Publication Date
3-2025
Abstract
EDITOR’S NOTE. This second edition of TECHNE, following last year’s relaunch as an archive of student work, reflects a growing commitment to showcasing projects across all architectural sub-disciplines. In this edition, featuring work from the 2023-24 academic year, readers will find student-written explorations of architectural history—an opportunity to pause and reflect. We hope this publication serves as a catalyst for dialogue between past and present as students shape the built environment of the future. A deep understanding of where we come from will help guide the department’s trajectory as it engages with the world at large. This book remains an archive of architectural stories, ideas, and experiments. We look forward to TECHNE continuing to capture the work of students and recent graduates with immediacy, responding to the evolving challenges and discourse of architecture today.
FOREWORD. For economic productivity and growth, our country needs as much talent as we can find, and we certainly can’t afford to waste it. The opportunity gap imposes on all of us both real costs and what economists term “opportunity costs.”- Robert D. Putnam, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis. This issue of TECHNE has the distinction of being released during a NAAB accreditation visit which culminates a multi-year process of grueling work and meticulous organization by the B.Arch. Co-Directors, Professor Jieun Yang and Professor Claudia Hernandez, in conjunction with faculty and staff members. The accreditation spotlights the three-degree programs simultaneously as they operate in synch to expand student access to the proliferating demands of the building industry.TECHNE reaches across these programs to showcase student work that is comparable to national standards. The competition and expectation that comes with this recognition has been embraced by students in the department. Enrollment numbers remain strong, graduation rates steady, and employment within the AEC industry increasing. The department is establishing a reputation for its hardworking and talented students, eager to flex their technical and design skills. The remarkable story of achievement by an underfunded group of underdogs has only just begun. Students in our department are singular in their experience and ambition. Unencumbered by the historical reach of a formal architectural pedagogy, the department is capitalizing on its vocational roots to create unexpected alliances and opportunities for an increasing range of talent. Each issue of TECHNE challenges successive generations of students to expand their imagination. It inspires risk taking and action. Programs like: ARC Scholars, The Pre-Internship Program, ULI’s Urban Plan, The Architectural League’s After Hours, Student Day and The Mentorship Program fuel this momentum. TECHNE illustrates the resolve and collaborative spirit between faculty and students. Thanks to Professor Jieun Yang and Professor Elena M’Bouroukounda for their leadership of this publication effort and exhibition. Thanks to the student clubs that provide a model for camaraderie and engagement. This is not an era for inhibition or isolation. We need more student leaders. Get involved, take the initiative and ensure that no student is left behind. Sanjive Vaidya, RA Chair, Department of Architecture, City Tech, March 2025
Comments
FACULTY ADVISORS
Elena M’Bouroukounda, exhibition
Jieun Yang, publication
STUDENT EDITORIAL TEAM
Anjun Ahmmed, Osaruyi Amadasun, Omar Apreza, Briana Carrasco, editor-in-chief, Abeni Chen, Nayely Chimborazo, Alyssa Duran, editor-in-chief, Fareda Elsherif, Armani Ferreira, Julia Kolpak, Diego Lopez, Nasir McIntosh,Vladislav Molchanov, Amanda Mostafa, Jeremiah Reilly, Ashley Robertson, Ziani Rodriguez, Monisha Sooklall, Pierre Theodat, design lead, Elisabet Tolentino, Catherine Valenzuela, design lead, Karen Yascaribay